Deluge of Noob Canon Lore Questions

[Vech24]

First up... Happy Halloween! It's nice to see the dev's do a seasonal event like Madness even if I'm still too green to know what the hell to do with an auto-leveled Pinn. Anyhow, I've realized that one of the biggest barriers I've had getting into this game in the past is fleshing out an enjoyable character I like to RP. Getting deuced in PK while I learn the gameplay ropes is just part of the learning curve and honestly, that's perfectly fine. What's burnt me out in the past however is failing to establish a character that feels enmeshed within the game world.

Granted that ultimately RP is what you make of it and the quality of interactions hinge on both the effort and creativity of the individual player. That being said, creating an organic feeling character (at least for me) requires solid understanding of the world he/she exists in. So in this process, I could use the aid of the multiple year Vets and lore buffs as I'd really like to stick around this time.

(I should preface my questions by stating that I've been to the official sites/wiki and have read through the timeline, race help files, and multiverse sections. I've even read through the expanded in-game help files regarding races and religions. So with that, on to the questions.)

CONTINUITY:

1. Where are we the players in the timeline? In the sense that with the founding of the Tribunal this age appears to be a time of realative truce. While the ever present dimensional forces of Order and Chaos infinitely struggle, the physical city-states seem to not be at war.

2. What is Aabahran? Is it a continent or an entire planet?

3. Who/what governs the three cities? Are they city-states that function independently or do they share a central rulership as a nation?

RELIGION:

1. Who/What comprise the "pantheon" of physical deities? Is there a hierarchy?

2. Who/what is Gaia?

ORDER and CHAOS:

1. Are the Primes and Planes associated with the 3 moons actual physical dimensions?

2. Order and Chaos seem to be the superceding constant force that governs known reality. Do even the God's serve these forces?

3. With The Nexus being a physical plane of existence that is the manifestation of Chaos, does Order have a similar plane?

4. Is there a "supreme being or entity" that resides in Nexus or Order?

MAGIC:

1. Does the Sun have a name or possess any magical properties? (This honestly surprises me that there's been no lore significance placed on such a tremendous galactic presence.)

RACES:

I recognize that even with the detailed racial helpfile revamp, there are some large gaps in multiple racial descriptions. I'm limiting my questions to two at the moment.

1. Is there an origin story for humankind (the first race) or is it deliberately left unclear?

2. Is there an origin story for the Avians?

In Closing:

I appreciate anyone who stuck it out and read all of this through as I know I asked a LOT of questions, some of which might not even have clear answers. It's with that in mind that I propose compiling a sort of Noob Aabahran History FAQ that I would gladly help to organize and compile. All I would need is input from the community of accepted canon. Also I hope that in asking these questions it can inspire the powers that be to flesh out some of these finer details (such as racial origins for example).

Any and all feedback is welcomed as one answer to anything from the list is better than nothing. Thanks again.

[Dale]

I can answer your first two questions I think.

Aabahran should be looked at like Israel back in the day before any other land was discovered, or mattered.

Secodnly, there is no timeline that can be compared, FL is it's own world, has it's own timeline. Nothing can be compared to it, everything you know should be forgotten, all logic out the window. Learn this new world as second to your own like we all do.

[Erana]

Funny that this came up. A timeline has recently been drawn up and is being talked about on the IMM forum. That timeline only covers until the Cataclysm, so it doesnt take 2.0/3.0 into account yet, but it should help with the backstory.

I'll answer your questions as best I can:

1. Where are we in the timeline? In the sense that with the founding of the Tribunal this age appears to be a time of realative truce. While the ever present dimensional forces of Order and Chaos infinitely struggle, the physical city-states seem to not be at war.

We are deep into the second age of cabals. The second age of cabals started with the formation of Tribunal, Watcher, and Syndicate. This was shortly into 2.0. There are no major war such as the War of Legions, but there are many smaller, more intense conflicts between the cabals. Tribunal is too weak to exert itself as the dominant political force everywhere, so we cannot call this an imperial age. Cabals still hold most of the military/political power and Tribunal functions like them in most ways.

2. What is Aabahran? Is it a continent or an entire planet?

Aabahran is part of a world. Few Aabahranians have left their home region. It is not as large as a continent. With only three big cities and a mountain range, the physical size isn't much more than a medium-sized US state. The terrain varies widely in that small area. Bordered by oceans on the west and east and tundra to the north and south, few people have arrived in Aabahran. Those arriving people settled Val Miran and Miruvhor. Nowadays, only PCs arrive from abroad typically. For example, Scholin was from beyond Winter to the north. There are other parts of the world and they are inhabited.

3. Who/what governs the three cities? Are they city-states that function independently or do they share a central rulership as a nation?

The three cities have a complicated history of working together and against each other. They are currently unified (loosely) under the Tribunal banner. For most of the game history, they have been independent states. Miruvhor is the oldest and classical powerhouse in Aabahran, but recently Rheydin has become far more influential. The Tribunal is based in Rheydin and holds Val Miran only with a military garrison, whereas Miruvhor is essentially autonomous.

1. Who/What comprise the "pantheon" of physical deities? Is there a hierarchy?

The staff/immortals comprise the pantheon of deities. Not all of them are actually immortal, and it would make more sense to think of them as gods in the Greek or Roman sense, not the all-powerful monotheistic sense. They die, leave, and transform often. There is no structured hierarchy, but their influence and power are understood clearly by all. This is represented ICly by the staff member's rank. Deities that have no active immortal player are considered lost deities, and whereas you can still commune to them in some cases, they are effectively banished from Aabahran.

2. Who/what is Gaia?

Gaia is currently underdeveloped. She acts like a very powerful deity, similar to the one god. She is sentinent, however. Gaia is the oldest religion in Aabahran and has lost almost all of its believers to the new, otherworldly immortal arrivals. She considers extraplanar creatures as invaders and foreign, and she operates a lot like the human immune system, sending her specialized white blood cells to attack them.

She has also expressed dislike for structured civilization and has focused much of her wrath against Val Miran and its government, the Tribunal. Why? I have some ideas, but nothing to be revealed yet.

1. Are the Primes and Planes associated with the 3 moons actual physical dimensions?

Yes, yes they are. In so far as anyone can tell. This hasn't been elaborated by anyone yet.

2. Order and Chaos seem to be the superceding constant force that governs known reality. Do even the God's serve these forces?

Order and Chaos may be the ultimate forces at work, but they don't have an effect on the game world very much. Some immortals might work for one of these ideals, but none purely. Demon imms usually come the closest to pure chaos. In the past, Tribunal/Justice imms have represented the ideal of order (Prax), but they do not need to, and for clarification, Erana does not. Tribunal (and all lawful ethos) are not so concerned with the order of the universe so much as practical civil order within the Tribunal empire. Very different concepts. People who are concerned with the order of the universe would fall under the order religion, but that religion can also represent only tribunal order.

3. With The Nexus being a physical plane of existence that is the manifestation of Chaos, does Order have a similar plane?

There may or may not be an order plane. Unlike chaos planes, nothing invades/comes to Aabahran from it if it does exist, so it is totally irrelevant and unknowable by any player except by philosophical conjecture.

4. Is there a "supreme being or entity" that resides in Nexus or Order?

Unknown by players, but a simple understanding of chaos and order would suggest no.

1. Does the Sun have a name or possess any magical properties? (This honestly surprises me that there's been no lore significance placed on such a tremendous galactic presence.)

Nothing that has been developed. Most of our lore focuses around the moons, not sun. The sun only works as a physical force for some magic, in bard tarot cards, has an effect on vampires, and is the symbol of the one god for crusaders.

1. Is there an origin story for humankind (the first race) or is it deliberately left unclear?

The ultimate origin of humanity is unclear to people living in Aabahran. The Anduins had no knowledge of or left no records of the people before them, if there were any. The same applies to the people who settled Miruvhor and Val Miran.

2. Is there an origin story for the Avians?

This I don't know outside of the racial help file.

edit: I missed a few questions, corrected.

[Sandbox]

That was an awesome read! Thank you for such a detailed description.You just gave me an awesome idea for my next chars rp.

[f0xx]

That was an awesome read!

I second that. Nice one Erana

[Vech24]

Absolutely. Thanks so much for taking the time to answer all of those questions. I have a few more brewing that I'll compile and post later when I have more time.